Children's hospital will continue gender-affirming care after "thorny" court rulinghttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/02/childrens-hospital-will-continue-gender-affirming-care-after-thorny-court-ruling/ 🔗Daniel Villarreal (12 Feb 2026)
A California state court on Wednesday ordered a San Diego children's hospital to continue providing gender-affirming hormone therapy and puberty blockers to trans youth for at least one more month. The court ruling gives local families and patients until March 10 to find similar care elsewhere, at which point another court hearing will determine whether the hospital continues to offer such care.
Rady Children's Hospital stopped providing such care on February 6 in response to the current presidential administration's threats to end federal funding to medical institutions that offer gender-affirming healthcare. However, the state of California then sued the hospital, saying it was contractually obligated to provide the care.
The hospital said it decided to end its trans youth care under pressure from the president, who pledged to block research and educational grants as well as Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement to institutions that provide gender-affirming care to minors. Medicaid funding makes up 37% of the hospital's operating revenue.
In response, California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) sued the hospital, saying it violated a legally binding 2024 contract it agreed to when Bonta approved its merger with the Children's Hospital of Orange County. The agreement required both hospitals to maintain their existing levels of specialty healthcare services — including gender-affirming care — through 2034. and "to obtain approval from the Attorney General before it reduced or eliminated gender-affirming care."
The hospital's co-CEO, Dr. Patricio "Patrick" Frias, also noted that several of Rady's gender-affirming healthcare providers had their names and faces published on the internet by anti-trans activists last December, leading hospital workers to fear for their safety.
